Fuma Sacra announces the third concert in its “Bach on Thursday” series, a series of free lunchtime concerts presented at Trinity Church in Princeton featuring the cantatas of Johann Sebastian Bach.  Fuma Sacra, one of America’s finest early music vocal ensembles, conducted by Andrew Megill, will be accompanied by an orchestra of period instruments led by concertmaster Nancy
Wilson.  A simple lunch of soup, sandwiches and cookies will be served in Pierce Hall at Trinity Church from 11:00 – 12:15.  A donation of $5.00 is suggested, but not required.  The
remaining dates for this year’s series of hour-long concerts are January 16, March 6, and May 15.

The next concert of the “Bach on Thursday” series, performed on January 16, 12:30 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 33 Mercer St., Princeton, features the cantata “Weinen, Klagen, Zorgen, Sagen
(BWV 12) is one of the earliest cantatas by JS Bach.  It was composed in
Weimar, and sets an emotionally charged libretto by Salomo Franck, the court
poet.  It is most famous for its first choral movement, which Bach later
re-used as the “Crucifixus” in the B Minor Mass.   The cantata traces a spiritual journey along
a path from earthly sorrow to eternal joy, beginning with the opening sinfonia,
which sets the stage with plangent arabesques in the solo oboe over fragment
tear-motifs in the strings.  In addition, there are three arias, two of
which are typical of Bach’s early cantatas in their brevity, each featuring a
different accompaniment:  solo oboe, tutti strings, and solo trumpet.

Also on the program is “Ich will den Herren loben allezeit” by Heinrich Schütz and “Fantasia Upon One Note” for strings by Henry Purcell.